I have no other applications related to this application.
There was no federal funding or other support provided in the design and development of this invention.
Microfiche was not required in this specification
The following is a description of the background of the invention;
(1) Field of the Invention
The field of invention pertains to the equipment required to conduct the drilling of high angle well holes or the curved holes from the vertical to the horizontal to a point where a horizontal drain hole can be drilled into an oil or gas formation. This invention is primarily directed toward the drilling of the curved hole. The curved hole, drilled from a vertical well hole is generally classified by its radius of curvature since it represents a fourth of a circle. The curved hole is classified as long radius, short radius and ultra short radius. The long radius is usually several hundred feet. The short radius is usually around a hundred feet and the ultra short radius is usually around 30 feet. This invention is aimed at providing curved holes with ultra short radii of 4 to 8 feet which can be drilled with flexible motors as shown in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,227,584. Also the design of the invention can be constructed small enough to provide small diameter curved holes of 1.5 to 2 inches with radii of 25 to 36 inches. The invention could be operated with a small diameter flexible drill pipe, as show in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,820, to drill the small diameter curved holes.
(2) Description of Related Art
The related art is the tools that actually direct the drilling of the curved hole from the vertical to the horizontal. In the older days the most successful means of accomplishing this type of drilling was to use a knuckle joint connected to the drill bit with a short sub. Presently the primarily approach is to use a bit connect by a bent sub containing a bent driving mechanism to a short down hole motor. The knuckle joint was used with standard drill pipe and could hardly drill long radius curved holes. The short down hole motor with the bent sub can drill what is presently called ultra short radius, which is limited to around a 30-foot radius. This limitation of around 30 feet is because of the bent sub limits and the length of the motor. Also another limiting factor is the distance from the face of the drill bit and the flex point of the knuckle joint and the bent sub. Also bent subs can not be used with flexible drill pipe and the structure of the bent subs and knuckle joints limits the diameter of the curved hole they can drill to several inches.
One of the limiting factors in drilling an ultra short radius curved hole is the length of the inflexible section on each of a flexible joint. It is an objective of this invention to keep the inflexible section between the flexible joint and the face of the bit as short as possible so the face of the bit has maximum directional capability when it is interface with the wall a vertical well hole.
One of the objectives of the invention is to provide a design that can maximize the diameter of the shank of the bit in relation to the diameter of the hole being drilled to enhance the torque carrying capability of the shank.
It is an objective of the invention to provide a design that can be constructed for drilling large curved holes of several inches in diameter or constructed to drill small curved holes of one to two inches in diameter.
An objective of the invention is to provide a flexible point on the backside of the face of the crown of the bit.
An objective of the invention is to provide the capability for the crown of the bit to flex equal distance in opposite directions.
It is an objective of the invention to provide a side tracking bit that has a flexible section between the crown of the bit and the shank of the bit.
It is an objective of the invention to provide a side tracking bit that can be rotated while the crown is titled at an angle to the shank of the bit.
It is an objective of the invention to provide a side tracking bit that can drill a curved hole from the vertical to the horizontal with an ultra short radius.
It is an objective of the invention to provide a side tracking bit that can be readily disassembled for repairs
An objective of the invention is to provide a means of locking a plurality of studs inside a shank of a bit, that are drilled around the same circumference, with minimum obstruction to drilling fluids being pumped though the shank.
An objective of the invention is to provide a side tracking bit when drilling into the wall of a vertical well hole can minimize the distance it has to drill to have an associated flexible joint also through the wall of the vertical well hole.